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NHL 16

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NHL 16
The NHL 16 revised cover, featuring Jonathan Toews
Developer(s)EA Canada
Publisher(s)EA Sports
SeriesNHL series
Platform(s)NHL 16
NHL: Legacy Edition
ReleaseNHL: Legacy Edition
  • CAN: September 9, 2015
  • USA: September 15, 2015
NHL 16
  • NA: September 15, 2015
  • EU: September 17, 2015
  • AU: September 18, 2015
Genre(s)Sports (ice hockey)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

NHL 16 is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 25th installment of the NHL series and was released on September 15, 2015 in North America and September 17 and 18 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The game was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a separate release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titled NHL: Legacy Edition. Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks is the official cover athlete, marking his second appearance on an NHL cover, following NHL 11. Upon release, NHL 16 received positive reviews and was declared an improvement over NHL 15 by critics.

Gameplay

NHL 16 contains several game modes, including Be a GM, a mode where you control the general manager of a team of your choice, Be a Pro, a mode where you control your own custom player and progress his career, Hockey Ultimate Team, a mode where you collect cards of real-life players, build a team, and then take on either players online or A.I. teams, and EA Sports Hockey League, abbreviated as EASHL, a multiplayer-only mode where you can use your own custom player to join other teams, also with custom players controlled by other people, and take on other teams.[1][2] The EASHL returns after being dropped from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of NHL 15. It features some changes in its progression system to address balance issues, including a switch to a class-based progression model similar to Be a Pro mode, and the removal of attributes and boosts.[3] A beta for the EASHL mode was available for NHL 15 owners from July 30 to August 10.[3]

Cover

NHL 16 did not have a cover vote in contrast to the previous year's iteration. At the 2015 NHL Awards, it was revealed that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, who had won the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, were selected to be on the cover of the game. It is Toews' second appearance on the cover of an NHL game, following NHL 11.[4] It was supposed to be Kane's second appearance as well, following NHL 10,[4] but on August 12 EA Sports announced that Kane would no longer be appearing on the cover of the game in light of the fact he was the subject of a police investigation over a sexual assault allegation.[5][6] For the second consecutive year, Nino Niederreiter of the Minnesota Wild was chosen for the cover in Switzerland.

NHL: Legacy Edition

NHL: Legacy Edition is an updated version of NHL 15 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was released on September 9 in Canada and September 15 in the United States. There are some minor changes, such as the menu music; however, the EA Sports logo is instead shown for the album arts, the NHL Moments Live from 2013-14 is replaced by some new ones that will be available as the 2015-16 NHL season progresses, and in the "Custom Team" game mode the team name selection is improvised.[7]

Release

NHL 16 launched in North America on September 15, 2015, in both a standard edition and a deluxe set, which includes bonus content for use with the Hockey Ultimate Team game mode. NHL: Legacy Edition launched in North America on the same day as NHL 16, but it was released in a standard edition only. In Canada, an exclusive PlayStation 4 bundle launched with the game simultaneously, packaging both a PS4 console and a copy of NHL 16.[8]

Soundtrack

Although the game reuses the original orchestral themes from NHL 15, the game contains 10 songs, which are also played in the menus of NHL: Legacy Edition.

Reception

Upon its release, NHL 16 received positive reviews from critics and received much more positive reviews compared to its predecessor, NHL 15, which received more mixed and average reviews from critics.[16][17][18][19] On GameRankings, the PlayStation 4 version holds an 80.58% rating, based on eighteen reviews,[10] and the Xbox One version holds an 81.17% rating, based on six reviews.[9] On Metacritic, the PlayStation 4 version holds a 78/100 rating, based on sixteen reviews,[12] and the Xbox One version holds a 80/100 rating, based on eight reviews.[11]

References

  1. ^ Richards, Dean (May 20, 2015). "NHL 16 Full Feature Set". Electronic Arts. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. ^ EA Canada (2015). NHL 16 (PlayStation 4 / Xbox One). EA Sports.
  3. ^ a b "NHL 16 gets series' first-ever beta next week, for revamped EA Sports Hockey League". Polygon. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Blackhawks stars Toews, Kane named cover athletes for 'NHL 16' video game Wednesday, 06.24.2015 / 9:05 PM / News". NHL. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  5. ^ "EA Sports pulls Patrick Kane from 'NHL 16' cover amid reported rape investigation". NESN. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  6. ^ Gold-Smith, Josh (August 12, 2015). "Blackhawks' Patrick Kane removed from 'NHL 16' cover amid investigation". The Score. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  7. ^ EA Canada (2015). NHL: Legacy Edition (PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360). EA Sports.
  8. ^ "Canada: NHL 16 PlayStation 4 Bundle Available September 15th". PlayStation. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "NHL 16 for Xbox One". GameRankings. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  10. ^ a b "NHL 16 for PlayStation 4". GameRankings. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "NHL 16 for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c "NHL 16 for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  13. ^ Paget, Mat (September 15, 2015). "NHL 16 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  14. ^ Blair, Matthew (September 15, 2015). "NHL 16 Review Text". GameTrailers. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  15. ^ Macy, Seth (September 15, 2015). "NHL 16 Review". IGN. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  16. ^ "NHL 15 for PlayStation 4". GameRankings. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  17. ^ "NHL 15 for Xbox One". GameRankings. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  18. ^ "NHL 15 for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  19. ^ "NHL 15 for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
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